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Weir Returns As Scots Name Squad For Irb Junior World Championship

Scotland under-20 head coach Peter Wright today named his 26-man squad for the IRB Junior World Championship which begins in just over a month’s time in northern Italy.

The core of the squad is formed by players who took part in the 6 Nations Championship during February and March, and there is also a welcome return for Glasgow Warriors stand-off Duncan Weir, one of several performers able to call on the experience of last year’s Junior World Championship in Argentina.

Scotland under-20 head coach Peter Wright today named his 26-man squad for the IRB Junior World Championship which begins in just over a month’s time in northern Italy.

The core of the squad is formed by players who took part in the 6 Nations Championship during February and March, and there is also a welcome return for Glasgow Warriors stand-off Duncan Weir, one of several performers able to call on the experience of last year’s Junior World Championship in Argentina.

The Scots begin their Pool C campaign on Friday 10 June with a tie against South Africa in Padova, before moving on to nearby Treviso to tackle England on Tuesday 14 June. Their final group fixture sees them face Ireland in Rovigo on Saturday 18 June, with their remaining two tournament matches dependent on performance in the pool phase.

Scotland under-20 and their Australian counterparts will conduct a number of live training sessions against each other in the week leading up to their respective opening assignments, with the Scots’ preparations also featuring a warm-up match against England Counties under-20 in Leeds this evening.

Wright today looked ahead to the summer activity and hailed Weir’s inclusion as a “significant boost” for what he believes will be three “massively challenging games” in the first eight days of the tournament.

Wright said: “We’re facing three very capable opponents in the pool phase, and there’s absolute clarity on our part about the qualities we’ll need to bring to the table to ensure we compete in those games.

“We know from previous encounters that all three teams will be very physical and will look to exploit their ability in the set-piece, so our own will have to be consistent and provide the right sort of platform for what we feel has the potential to be an exciting backline.

“Another thing we’ll need is the ability to control possession and to make sure we bring some continuity to our game so that we’re playing on the front foot as much as possible. In that regard, it’s great to be able to call on someone like Duncan Weir.

“He has a number of excellent attributes: his ability to control games, his confidence, and his experience not just of this tournament but of Magners League rugby and the Scotland A set-up which he broke into last November.

“He’s the sort of player who will keep the scoreboard ticking over and keep you in contention, and I know the boys are delighted to have him in the fold.”

Three players, Loughborough University prop Alex Allan, Boroughmuir No.8 Jamie Swanson and Stirling County centre Danny Gilmour, are in line to make their Scotland under-20 debuts during the tournament.

Explaining their selection, Wright said: “Alex has impressed us in camp with his scrummaging and his determination. He’s one of a number of players who are young enough to be available to us next season and we feel it’s a great opportunity to give him experience of the environment.

“Jamie is a powerful runner off the base of the scrum who looked sharp in the recent Scotland under-20A game against Japan, while Danny gives us the option of a different blend in midfield. We’ve got good ball players like Mark Bennett and Craig Jackson, and Danny offers us physicality and directness.

“Elsewhere, Grant Runciman has really earned his selection on the back of some very good performances for a successful Melrose team, and I’ll be looking to guys like him and [fellow flanker] Hamish Watson to get on the shoulder of our runners in what is a very attack-minded backline.”

“The next few weeks are a case of getting the players absolutely comfortable with the game we want to play so that come the day of the South Africa game, they’re in the best place to perform.

“The game against England Counties this evening is a part of that process. It will be a useful run-out that will allow us to develop combinations and the like ahead of us leaving for Italy.”

At the end of the pool phase the teams will be seeded based on the position in which they finished intheir respective pools:

1st Seed: Pool winner with most competition points2nd Seed: Pool winner with 2nd most competition points3rd Seed: Pool winner with 3rd most competition points4th Seed: Pool second place with most competition points5th Seed: Pool second place with 2nd most competition points6th Seed: Pool second place with 3rd most competition points7th Seed: Pool third place with most competition points8th Seed: Pool third place with 2nd most competition points9th Seed: Pool third place with 3rd most competition points10th Seed: Pool fourth place with most competition points11th Seed: Pool fourth place with 2nd most competition points12th Seed: Pool fourth place with 3rd most competition points

Based on the seedings, the allocation of fourth round matches will be as follows: